Why Compressing Documents Makes Sense
You could simply attach all the documents to an email you are writing in Windows Live Mail, Windows Mail orOutlook Express, but (in particular if they are stored in the wasteful .doc format) that might create a big email with big attachments, much bigger than necessary. Not only does that make the message slower to send and receive, you might even surpass the recipient's maximum message size so that they cannot download it.
Fortunately, many documents can be compressed to as little as 10% of their original size. As an additional bonus, compressing the files you want to send to a zip file packs all of them neatly in a single attachment.
Send Documents as a Single Zip File Attachment with Windows Live Mail, Windows Mail or Outlook Express
To send a couple of documents packed into a single zip file with Windows Live Mail, Windows Mail or Outlook Express:
- ›› Step by Step Screenshot Walkthrough (using Outlook Express)
- Open the folder containing the files you want to send in Windows Explorer.
- Select File | New | Compressed (zipped) Folder from the menu.
- Type the name you want the attachment to carry.
- Hit Enter.
- Highlight the documents you want to send.
- To select multiple documents, keep the Ctrl key pressed while you click them.
- Drag-and-drop the highlighted files on the newly created zip file.
- Open Windows Live Mail, Windows Mail or Outlook Express.
- Create a new message.
- Now drag-and-drop the zip file onto the message.
- Address, compose and send the message as usual.
